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WSU women's basketball (8-3, 0-0) closed out the non-conference portion of their schedule with a loss to Stony Brook (9-1,0-0) roughly 3,000 miles away from Pullman in Stony Brook, NY. This game was well within the reach of the Cougs, but the Seawolves made big shots when it counted most. Though you might not be familiar with Stony Brook, this is a team that played in the NCAA tourney last year and looks to be on a path there once again in 2022. Charlisse Leger-Walker led the way in scoring once again for Wazzu, tossing in 19-points. No other Cougar managed to reach double-digit scoring. Once the Cougs return home from the East Coast, they will have 12-days of rest before they open Pac-12 play at home against the Cal Bears on December 31st at 7pm. That game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network. For more details on the game, here's your link:
https://wsucougars.com/news/2021/12/19/womens-basketball-cougs-close-out-non-conference-with-a-loss-at-stony-brook.aspx -
Looking at Cougar football, All-Mountain West linebacker Daiyan Henley has entered the transfer portal and is considering both Washington programs as his new team. WSU would be keenly interested considering they have big shoes to fill with the graduation of Jahad Woods and Justus Rogers. Both have been mainstays at the linebacker position for the past four seasons. Henley is also taking a long look at USC and Kansas State. He only has one season of eligibility left to play after enjoying a nice career at Nevada. The fact that he's from the Los Angeles area might give USC the upper hand in landing his services.
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There will be a coaching holdover from the Rolovich staff. EDGE coach AJ Cooper will continue in the same role. This isn't a big surprise as Cooper came to WSU along with Coach Jake Dickert from Wyoming. Cooper also worked alongside new defensive coordinator Brian Ward at North Dakota State. The continuity is good for players and recruiting. Don't expect to see significant changes in the defensive base set for the Cougs next fall. It's likely to be more of the same 4-2-5 formation employed with some success this past season.
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A pair of Cougs were selected in the National Women's Soccer League draft this past Saturday morning. Elyse Bennett was selected with the seventh pick in the draft by the Kansas City Current. Sydney Pulver went with the 25th pick to the San Diego Wave. The duo helped lead the team to one of their most successful campaigns in program history in 2021 as WSU finished the year with 14-wins including seven in Pac-12 play to earn another trip to the postseason.
Go Cougs!!!
- It seems fitting to put together a list of coaches who branch off of the Mike Leach coaching tree. Perspective on his football genius can easily be determined by a cursory glance:
Dave Aranda/Baylor head coach – Graduate assistant coach under Leach from 2000-02 at Texas Tech
Neal Brown/West Virginia head coach – Played under Leach in 1998 when Leach was offensive coordinator at Kentucky
Sonny Cumbie/Louisiana Tech head coach – Played under Leach at Texas Tech from 2000-03 and later served as a graduate assistant coach under Leach
Sonny Dykes/TCU head coach – Coached wide receivers and later was the co-offensive coordinator at Texas Tech under Leach from 2000-06
Josh Heupel/Tennessee head coach – Played under Leach at Oklahoma in 1999 when Leach was the offensive coordinator for the Sooners
Dana Holgorsen/Houston head coach – Coached alongside Leach as assistants at Valdosta State from 1993-95, then served as a wide receivers coach and offensive coordinator under Leach from ...
- The news of former WSU Coach Mike Leach passing at the young age of 61 is very, very sad. I had the pleasure of writing about the Cougs when Leach was at the helm. To say that he was a unique person doesn't begin to describe the multi-faceted dimension of the man.
In terms of coaching football, Leach led his teams in a way that had most other coaches scratching their heads. His offensive creativity gave a multitude of defensive coordinators ulcers. To say that his techniques for molding student-athletes into football players were unusual would be accurate. Making guys run sprints in a sand pit named "Leach Beach" is a prime example. Crazy as that sounds, his players had fewer ankle injuries over the course of the season than any team in football. Only Mike Leach could get players to hit the beach. And if you look at the coaching tree that branches out from Leach, you'd find a myriad of men who owe him for their start in the profession.
When you examine the way Leach represented the schools ...
- Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, so Wazzu's loss yesterday to UNLV by a score of 74-70 was just that, a loss. However, there were plenty of reasons to applaud both the performance and the progress the Cougs are making over the past few games. Let's get the bad observation out of the way. WSU turned the ball over a ridiculous 22 times. No one is going to beat many teams with such wreckless play, especially against a team that posted a 9-0 record going into the contest. Some of those errors might be attributed to Coach Kyle Smith going with a different lineup almost every game because of player injuries. Facts are facts and when there isn't a steady lineup, players struggle to play team ball. On the bright side, Wazzu shot a respectable 54.2% from the field, coupled with a very nice 56.5% from behind the arc. On defense, WSU held UNLV to just 30.4% from behind the arc and 50.9% overall. The Cougs outrebounded the Rebels by a margin of 33-20. Despite being down by ...
